These minuscule blood-suckers were thought to be a pest of the past for about 40 years, but in the last couple of decades they’ve been making a comeback. They are notorious for being nearly impossible to get rid of and if you have them you can consider yourself screwed (I’ve heard the only sure-fire way to kill them all is to light everything in your house on fire and then move to a different town). I personally am not host to any of the little leeches but reading about them this week is enough to make my skin crawl.

Bed bugs are interesting because they’re a relatively “clean” bug. That means that they don’t spread or carry diseases, which is nice because if they had that ability they could probably take over the world. They do, however, bite. Doing an image search for this post wasn’t exactly pleasant but I had to include at least one picture for the sake of science. Also, their ways of sexual reproduction are among some of the most twisted and disgusting I’ve ever heard of. I won’t go into details but suffice it to say that they mate through traumatic insemination . And that link is not for the faint of heart.

Here are some of the places that have recently had bed bugs (and this is just in NYC)

AMC Movie Theater in Times Square

Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office

CNN at the Time Warner Center

Victoria’s Secret

Abercrombie and Fitch

John Jay College

Manhattan College

some offices of the NYC Health Department (how ironic is that)

Scary, huh? And something to keep in mind the next time you stay in a hotel, in NYC or anywhere else.

Also, I didn’t mean to scare and/or gross anyone out with this. I just thought it was fascinating/repulsive and wanted to share. Here’s a relevant comic to maybe take your mind away from the thought of billions of tiny bugs swarming through large cities:

Actually, this might not help things

Try not to be too worried – if you’re not waking up with bites and whelps all over your body then you’re probably safe.